Nottingham-born aid worker warns Gaza crisis is worst he’s seen in 25 years
Matthew Hollingworth. Photo credit: Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
By Freddie Heynes
A Nottingham-born aid worker who spent six months spearheading a humanitarian group’s response to the crisis in Gaza says the impact of the conflict is the worst he’s witnessed in 25 years of aid work.
Matthew Hollingworth, 49, works for the World Food Programme (WFP) providing food and other key aid to countries dealing with war and natural disasters.
Born in Nottingham, he later went to Gordonstoun School, Moray, Scotland. His career in humanitarian work has since taken him across the globe, delivering vital aid to people in need in Bosnia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and elsewhere.
But after spending six months leading the WFP’s response to the unfolding crisis in Palestine, Mr Hollingworth labelled the crisis the most difficult he’s been deployed to.
He said: “There is no crisis in the world like Gaza.
“I still find it hard to comprehend the level of desperation and hunger, fear and isolation that the people were experiencing.
“I’ll never forget asking a child queuing at a WFP bakery what were his dreams for the future. You expect a child to say something like ‘I want to be an engineer or a doctor or a footballer’ or ‘I want to go on holiday.’
“But his response was simply ‘I dream of having a chicken sandwich’. When I asked when he’d last had a sandwich with any kind of meat, he could not remember.”
Mr Hollingworth spoke as aid supplies are due to enter the area on Monday (May 19) after a blockade imposed by Israel which has lasted almost three months.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to allow limited deliveries of food after warnings of famine on the streets.
When asked why the conflict in Gaza was having such an impact compared with other war zones, Mr Hollingworth said: “The awful thing about Gaza is there is nowhere to move to.
“The entirety of that tiny 25-mile strip is a war zone and no man, woman or child can escape its intensity.
“I’ve worked in war zones as aggressive, as violent and as frightening – but the big difference is that when the lead is flying and bombs start dropping, people can usually move away.”
Foreign secretary David Lammy has been leading calls for more aid to enter Gaza.
The British government has backed the WFP’s life-saving aid to civilians in Gaza with more than £14 million.
Conflict flared in Gaza after the October 7 attacks in 2023, when the militant group Hamas led an offensive against Israel, killing around 1,200 civilians and taking more than 250 hostages.
This triggered a massive Israeli offensive which, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, has killed more than 50,000 Palestinians.
The military leadership of both Israel and Hamas have since been issued with arrest warrants by the International Criminal Court alleging war crimes and crimes against humanity.
After working for six months in Gaza, Mr Hollingworth relocated to Beirut in July 2024, to be the WFP’s representative and country-wide director in Lebanon.
Just two months later Israel also launched an incursion in Lebanon against Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group.
Mr Hollingworth and the WFP helped provide assistance to almost one million civilians displaced from southern Lebanon by the conflict.
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